from burl to bowl

Burl Bowls and Other Artistic Objects

Making a bowl with a burl is the most common use of a burl. Because of its round shape bowls were often made with burls. Other items can include lamps, vases, mortar and pestles, trays, inlays for picture frames and trim for many things such as walls and automobile trim. Working with burl is very difficult because of the irregular grains within the burl. Hand carving and working the burl on a lathe are the most common ways of making an item out of burl. Because of the rarity and difficulty of finding and working with burls most items made from burl are very expensive. I recently watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow and a man had a huge burl bowl. It was about 3 feet across the top and the man who owned it said he and his brothers would push each other around in it across their grandmother's carpet. The bowl was estimated to be worth $20,000.00. So if you get the chance and have the money it's a wise investment as the expert on Antiques Roadshow said the burl bowl will never go down in value it will always rise in worth.